California Intends to List Four Substances as Carcinogens under Prop 65

The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced on June 11, 2021, that it intends to list tetrahydrofuran, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, methyl acrylate, and trimethylolpropane triacrylate (technical grade) as carcinogens under Proposition 65. Also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, Proposition 65 prohibits knowingly exposing any individual to a listed chemical without first providing a “clear and reasonable warning” to such individual. 

The listing of these substances is being proposed pursuant to the Labor Code listing mechanism. In announcing its intention, OEHHA cited several IARC monographs that concluded that the four substances are “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (see OEHHA’s announcement for more details on those monographs). OEHHA has requested comments by July 26, 2021, as to whether these substances meet the criteria set forth in the Proposition 65 regulations for cancer listing based on the Labor Code.